Understanding water in Sonoma Valley is simple: It’s complicated.
The Valley has two water sources:
(1) The Russian River, via the Sonoma Aqueduct managed by the Sonoma County Water Agency. It provides water to metered customers in the Valley of the Moon Water District (VOMWD) and the City of Sonoma, and serves 34,000 people — the bulk of the Valley’s population.
(2) Groundwater – i.e., underground water in natural aquifers, tapped by the wells of rural county residents and agriculture (mostly vineyards and wineries).
Water conservation focuses on both groundwater depletion and demands on Russian River water. In addition to municipal water uses, those demands include endangered species preservation, flood control, demands of new development, vineyard and other agricultural needs, etc.
However, should anything interrupt supply from the Sonoma Aqueduct, such as an earthquake or other system failure, Sonoma Valley’s groundwater could also suddenly become the only water source for the Valley’s 34,000 municipal water users. Thus, we all have a stake in how groundwater is used and sustained.
Even without an emergency, Sonoma Valley is a classic example of California water politics, pitting the needs of agriculture against those of commercial development and a relentlessly growing population. If the drought continues, anticipate a showdown over ground water use, whose current users have been sizing up each others’ intentions since the State Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) took effect on 1/1/15.
That law mandates that groundwater basins with a potentially unsustainable combination of population and number of wells must create a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) by 6/30/17 and have Groundwater Sustainability Plans by 1/31/22. GSA jurisdiction essentially includes agricultural and rural residential users of groundwater. Of Valley groundwater, 55% is currently used by agriculture and 27% by rural residences.
In the Sonoma Valley groundwater basin, the overall ecological health of the entire Sonoma Creek watershed is the primary indicator of water sustainability, which is reflected in indicators such as the water table level, fish populations, stream-bank forest health, etc. By those measures, Sonoma Valley groundwater use is on the verge of unsustainability. SGMA requires that Sustainability be achieved by 2042. The state can take over our Valley’s groundwater management before 2042 if GSA and GSP thresholds are not met. If there is any water left to manage.
With less rain to replenish groundwater aquifers, maintaining sustainability requires controlling groundwater use. In that regard, unlimited well-drilling is just one problem. Currently, domestic wells and agricultural well permits are issued by the county Permit and Resource Management Department on a “ministerial” basis; i.e., simply filing the proper paperwork gets a permit. Discretionary permits are reserved for all development projects that will use groundwater in Sonoma Valley. The discretionary process requires a PRMD determination of “appropriateness” before a permit is approved.
But traditionally digging a well is a way to establish a priority water right to future groundwater access, and Sonoma County has one of the highest rates of well permits/ drilling in the state. Since 1995, PRMD has issued 3883 well permits. Well drillers are busy and will get busier as water tables drop and regulations are developed.
It is not (yet) illegal for those on wells to put their own interests above the common good, but whether on a well or “city water,” there will be nowhere to turn if the well runs dry or the pipeline breaks. For the next 32 years, those who attend public water meetings will shape the flow of water in our Valley. Those who don’t could be left high and dry.
The SUN Editorial Board
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